A few days after Bill Parcells experienced what he called the ultimate reward from his life in football, he talked for a few minutes about the past.

The pleasure of being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame was evident in his voice. He didn’t stop to go over his career step by step, preferring to let the record speak for itself. Besides, the Super Bowl victories and other trophies earned along the way were secondary to his time at the podium Aug. 3 in Canton, Ohio.

“The Hall of Fame is the ultimate for me,” Parcells said in a phone interview. “Winning Super Bowls were important pieces of the puzzle. Football has been a good life for me.”

With all that big stuff, does he remember 1978, the year he spent as the head football coach at the Air Force Academy?

“That was a difficult year for me,” Parcells said. “It was my first time as a head coach. I remember it.”

Parcells took on the task of following Air Force coaching legend Ben Martin, who had become a coaching institution at Air Force. Martin had taken over the Falcons’ program in 1958. His first team posted a 9-0-2 record, tying Iowa 13-13 during the regular season and tying TCU 0-0 in the Cotton Bowl.

The first Air Force team under the direction of Parcells won its first two games, both on the road, 34-25 at Texas-El Paso and 18-7 at Boston College. But they won only once more, against Kent State, to finish 3-8.

Parcells resigned and initially planned to move to the staff of the New England Patriots. However, he turned down the job in New England and remained in Colorado Springs and out of coaching for a year.

“The year away from football was a difficult part of my life,” Parcells explained, without offering a reason why he stayed away. A report at the time stated it was for family reasons.

Even though Parcells’ time was short at Air Force, he left his mark. He generally is credited with persuading the command at Air Force of the value of an organized weight training program. Jack Braley was a carryover from Martin’s staff and a proponent of the value of weight training. Braley remains with the program today.

Former basketball coach Hank Egan remembers something that might have been even more important.

“One of the things Bill did was to hire a bunch of young assistant coaches,” Egan said. “That group started a change in the culture and the philosophy at the academy. Ken Hatfield was in the group.”

Hatfield followed Parcells as Air Force’s head coach. During his term, Air Force joined the Western Athletic Conference and adopted the wishbone offense that became the bread-and-butter for the Falcons.

Parcells stepped into a job that was much different from what he expected.

“I had been an assistant coach at Army before taking the job at Air Force,” he said. “I had an idea what I was getting into. But it was different from what I expected. I understood the mission of the academy, but I had difficulty understanding what they wanted from their athletic teams.”

Parcells won two Super Bowls with the New York Giants, the first coming with a 39-20 triumph over the Broncos in January 1987. Overall, Parcells posted a 172-130-1 NFL record in 22 seasons while coaching the Giants, Patriots, New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys.

“I’m happy the way everything turned out,” Parcells said. “I’d never go back in. I’m at the age (72 this month) where that wouldn’t be a good idea. I am fortunate to have been with good people and organizations that supported me.”

Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson had butterflies before Sunday's game against the Detroit Red Wings. It wasn't because of the big-name opponent, but rather his return from a 13-game injury absence and being stoked to rejoin a team in a playoff push and looking for its third postseason appearance in 10 years.